Diary of a Salesperson: I

Making of a proficient salesman

 “Success doesn’t come to you, you go to it.”  - Marva Collins

I believe one attains success in true terms when they help others to succeed in life as well. With my blogs I would try to bring together all the knowledge and experience I’ve gained in this industry over the years. I hope these experiences serve as a handbook for my fellows in the Pharma Industry and assist them to excel as a salesman and reach the pinnacle.

Though it is slightly difficult to bring together all that I’ve learnt and the vast knowledge I’ve attained in this blog, I would try to highlight a few experiences and lessons that played an imperative role in my career growth.

I began my journey in the year 1999 as a management trainee in a leading company at, Jodhpur. Initially it took me a little time to adjust and adapt the working manner, but once I got accustomed to my work I kept pacing ahead and never stopped. In these 18 years of my journey one thing I have certainly learnt is that everyone we come across in our life teaches us something; something different, something special. And in this blog I am going to share with you few of such essential teachings given to me by some absolutely wonderful people in my life.               

They say parents are every child’s first teachers; the most essential lessons that I’ve learnt in life unquestionably come from them. My grandmother used to tell me “If you really want to grow in life, you should never say no to your work.” This is one work ethic that I practice even today, no matter what the situation is I always strive to deliver maximum outcome from my side. I always think of my work to be my own business and always carry an entrepreneur attitude.

Another most important lesson in my life was given to me by my father. He taught me to “Help others without expecting anything from them and that is how you will win in life.” Inspired by my father’s lessons I started spending time with my colleagues and helping them out with planning, strategizing, understanding customer needs, chemist management and other essential work practices. It took me no time to win everybody’s heart and believe me no reward in my entire life can ever match the amount of respect and blessings I gained from helping others.

My boss gave me a lot of knowledge about customer behavior and how to conduct myself in order to succeed in life. Some of the important practices I mention below -

·        Never start your day late, always reach on time.

·        Become familiar with your customer list.

·        Plan and prepare the schedules  for your day in advance,

·        Strategize your inputs according to customer needs while keeping brand focus in mind.

·        “Be different, think different"

His lessons played an inevitable role in achieving my goals in life and to mention the most important thing- it changed my approach towards my customers. I began understanding their needs and their comfort zones, I started meeting them as per their convenience, sometimes early in the morning, sometimes late evenings, sometimes at Joggers Park, sometimes over lunch or breakfast at canteens and at times in parking lots too! When you make your customer’s convenience your priority they automatically start liking you and thinking of you to be someone different. This is how I learnt my second lesson to win people’s heart in life.

These teachings are just a glimpse of my incredible journey in the world of Pharma. But just a moment, the lessons are not over yet, becoming a proficient salesman isn’t a cakewalk, there are a few more remarkable lessons I learnt from some amazing personalities in my life. My next blog would be the second edition of making of a proficient salesman. The second edition would talk about what happened when a sales boy in a cycle shop changed my approach towards my customers and how I began studying my competitors and their habits.